Don't Panic: Cardinals 6, Mets 4

by Eric Simon on Apr 22, 2009 1:58 AM EDT

No full recap tonight; I just don't have the heart. My wish list:

Daniel Murphy will get better.
Carlos Beltran won't ever cross home plate standing up on a close play.
Jerry Manual won't ever bring in Casey Fossum with the bases loaded.
Omar Minaya won't ever sign a vastly inferior starting pitcher to save $3 million a year.

It's only thirteen games; all of the losses have been by one or two runs. The Mets have left a ton of guys on base, but the silver lining is that they managed to get those guys on base in the first place, so as the data set gets larger we can reasonably expect them to do a better job of getting those guys in.

Also, a humble request: try to reign in the cursing in the gamethreads. We all get worked up from time to time, but the purposeless, vacuous cursing that plagued the tail end of last night's chatter was a black eye on all of us. Cursing as an emotive response is expected; cursing for cursing's sake, or because you can't articulate something more meaningful to contribute to the discourse, is generally unwelcome.

Also, wishing death upon anyone will not be tolerated.

Thanks for your help with this.

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Comments

Agreed

There was a lot of stupid stuff said last night, most of it by one person.

by Prince on Apr 22, 2009 7:53 AM EDT reply actions

Yerp.

"I dunno. I never smoked any Astroturf"
-Tug McGraw

by squid92 on Apr 22, 2009 8:21 AM EDT up reply actions

I care too much

It’s a curse

by DevonEdwards on Apr 22, 2009 11:27 AM EDT up reply actions

We all care too much

It’s no excuse. You are a bit self-absorbed, aren’t you?

by zmanmetfan on Apr 22, 2009 2:26 PM EDT up reply actions

No, no, no.

See, you don’t understand. He’s the only diehard Mets fan on this blog. A blog devoted to the Mets. With constant posts and updates. From diehard Mets fans.

"I dunno. I never smoked any Astroturf"
-Tug McGraw

by squid92 on Apr 22, 2009 5:40 PM EDT up reply actions

I pulled a zero in the swag contest last night

I think that’s worth an f-bomb.

'Oh yes, I know all about that duty-of-a-citizen stuff. It doesn't go. There are exceptions to every rule, and this was one of them. When a man risks his liberty to come and root at a ball-game, you've got to hand it to him. He isn't a crook. He's a fan.'

by Catsmeat Potter-Pirbright on Apr 22, 2009 7:54 AM EDT reply actions

WOW

How exactly do you manage that?

by zmanmetfan on Apr 22, 2009 8:34 AM EDT up reply actions

Not that I was a whole lot better

by zmanmetfan on Apr 22, 2009 8:36 AM EDT up reply actions

missed both questions

was waaaay off on game score and picked a 6-3 Mets win. That’s how you pull a zero.

by Catsmeat Potter-Pirbright on Apr 22, 2009 8:45 AM EDT up reply actions

The real reason

is that you need to get a haircut, hippy!

"The people of Houston are spending money like oil's selling at $40 a barrel."

by IanB in MD on Apr 22, 2009 9:53 AM EDT up reply actions

I have pulled a zero twice so far this month.

I could be wrong but I think both times, John Maine was on the mound for the Mets. I guess I suck at reading him. I’ll let you know if I hit the trifecta after tonight’s game.

by Endys Game on Apr 22, 2009 11:08 AM EDT up reply actions

Oh snap, Eric. The gauntlet has been thrown down.

Seriously, though, agreed. I think the main problem is when its just used to make yourself sound more angry, over and over again.

"I dunno. I never smoked any Astroturf"
-Tug McGraw

by squid92 on Apr 22, 2009 8:20 AM EDT reply actions

I'm surprised

You could even post anything at 2 a.m after the kind of night the Mets and their fans had last night. And I certainly don’t need a recap, why recap a bad dream? I do think the Mets clubhouse needs some veteran leadership right now. I don’t know who will fill that role, but somebody needed to step up last night, after the game, and calm all the players down, get everybody back on the same page, and refocus the team on playing good baseball. You have to believe the locker room was not a happy place to be, and any negativity in there will spill over onto the playing field. So for the sake of the team, I hope something positive took place last night after the game. The Mets will show their true character, and I don’t believe the lasting image for this year is of a team playing like the Bad News Bears.
As far as posters on this blog go, most of the time it’s a very enjoyable interaction among fans. I am so glad I found this site. But there is a sense of extreme negativism that at times becomes ridiculous and takes the focus away from what should be a conversation about the Mets and baseball in general. It’s fair to question managements’ moves, it’s fair to criticize players for lack of hustle or smarts, but let’s do it in a way that doesn’t make us all cringe. And please, no more death wishes. That’s just wrong, and can never, ever be justified. David Eckstein would never do that.

by zmanmetfan on Apr 22, 2009 8:34 AM EDT reply actions

Hehe david eckstein

On an unrelated note, espn radio this morning said this loss was a bullpen collapse. Which weird cuz I remember the game at 4-4 when Putz came in. The four run lead was blown by Ollie, not by the mets pen. This was more of a Ollie meltdown more than a pen meltdown. It crazy how quick the national media is blame any bullpen instead of, you know, reading the boxscore to get a rough idea how the game went.

I get the Fossum thing, but Ollie walked in a run too and Ollie was more of the reason why they lost than the bullpen.

by meigs1414 on Apr 22, 2009 8:52 AM EDT reply actions

can it really be a bullpen meltdown

if your starter can’t get through 5?

by HotChipWillBreakYourLegs on Apr 22, 2009 9:01 AM EDT up reply actions

rhetorical answer:

No.

We've got ourselves a ball club, the Mets of New York town!

by kingcritical on Apr 22, 2009 9:12 AM EDT up reply actions

Well, the truth does not fit into their perception of the Mets

Nuts to ESPN. But really, the fact that Ollie is a human slot-machine is a secret pain that Met fans share. Maybe it’s better that way.

"The people of Houston are spending money like oil's selling at $40 a barrel."

by IanB in MD on Apr 22, 2009 9:54 AM EDT up reply actions

LOL at human slot machine

Nice analogy. It fits, unfortunately.

by zmanmetfan on Apr 22, 2009 2:28 PM EDT up reply actions

Saldy, in our case

the house does not always win.

"The people of Houston are spending money like oil's selling at $40 a barrel."

by IanB in MD on Apr 22, 2009 3:10 PM EDT up reply actions

Just filled out the swag form for today

and I’m gonna be goshdarn optimistic.

by dtro on Apr 22, 2009 9:11 AM EDT reply actions

Cursing

I didn’t even read the game thread. Maybe I should take a look to see what the cursing was like. Im a HUGE fan of swear words, but I prefer to say them because it allows me to give them inflection. But that’s just me. Whatever.

"The people of Houston are spending money like oil's selling at $40 a barrel."

by IanB in MD on Apr 22, 2009 9:57 AM EDT reply actions

It wasn't your usual "Fucking Ollie damn hell crap" after he gives up a bomb type cursing

It was more like the “This fucking team is a bunch of fucking spineless losers I hope fucking Daniel Murphy drinks a bottle of fucking poison etc. etc.”

I guess I can best describe it as “MetsBlog Comment Section-esque” cursing.

by Catsmeat Potter-Pirbright on Apr 22, 2009 10:15 AM EDT up reply actions

Which is why I don't look at those comments.

"I dunno. I never smoked any Astroturf"
-Tug McGraw

by squid92 on Apr 22, 2009 5:42 PM EDT up reply actions

how about effing?

as in, all effing cardinals will effing pay?

HELLO HELLO MR WILPON. WE WANT THE MANSION NOT THE CONDO.

by kendynamo on Apr 22, 2009 10:02 AM EDT reply actions

All you mother-effers are gonna pay. You are the ones who are the ball-lickers. We’re gonna eff your mothers while you watch and cry like little bees. Once we get to Hollywood and find those Miramax effs who are making that movie, we’re gonna make ‘em eat our ess, then ess out our ess, then eat their ess which is made up of our ess that we made ’em eat. Then you’re all you mother-effs are next. Love, Jay and Silent Bob.

by JoshNY on Apr 22, 2009 11:18 AM EDT up reply actions

Scott Boras = a big fat liar

is that okay?

Dear Liz Lemon: While other women have bigger boobs than you, no other woman has as big a heart. When I saw you getting ready to go out and get nailed by a bunch of guys last night, I knew for sure it was over between us, and for the first time since the '86 World Series, I cried... I cried...

by hotspur on Apr 22, 2009 10:50 AM EDT reply actions

Wait

Ollie’s not one of the five best lefties in the game? I wonder what else I could have been mislead about…..

by Mark Himmelstein on Apr 22, 2009 3:57 PM EDT up reply actions

But...but...Sandy Koufax!

"I dunno. I never smoked any Astroturf"
-Tug McGraw

by squid92 on Apr 22, 2009 5:42 PM EDT up reply actions

Wishing death on people:

Not even allowed if it’s, say, Chipper Jones?

OK, but getting back to the actual game, did anyone notice whether the on-deck hitter (Castillo, I assume) was giving Beltran an indication whether to slide or come in standing up? I think it’s a bad decision to Beltran not to slide regardless, but I’d be curious whether that might have been one of the things influencing his decision.

by JoshNY on Apr 22, 2009 11:14 AM EDT reply actions

Nope. I did not notice

and Beltran didn’t make any allusions to it in his post-game explanation.

by Catsmeat Potter-Pirbright on Apr 22, 2009 11:19 AM EDT up reply actions

Castillo gave no indication

Manuel was asked about that after the game and he commented that because it was an sudden unexpected play due to a bad throw as opposed to say tagging up on a flyball to the outfield, he didn’t think it was Castillo’s job to “direct traffic” as he put it since he would have already been focusing on the upcoming pitch as a hitter.

by Endys Game on Apr 22, 2009 12:01 PM EDT up reply actions

Meh

I can understand why he might need to focus on his at bat but it seems like a pretty routine thing for the on deck hitter to “direct traffic”

by Gina on Apr 22, 2009 12:21 PM EDT up reply actions

It was a weird play

Beltran tagging from second, bad throw to third but it bounced back towards the mound. But Castillo absolutely should have been more alert, as should Beltran. The play was right in front of both of them.

by Mark Himmelstein on Apr 22, 2009 4:09 PM EDT up reply actions

Sounds like BS

To me. Since the play was in front of him and he wasn’t in the batters box his only responsibility is to direct the runner. But I still blame Beltran.

by zmanmetfan on Apr 22, 2009 2:48 PM EDT up reply actions

What was

His post game explanation? Any place I can find it?

by zmanmetfan on Apr 22, 2009 2:49 PM EDT up reply actions

I was wondering the same thing

And have not found anything about it. It is a valid question, but Beltran should not have needed a signal to slide. The catcher was in position to make a catch, so he has to assume the ball is coming. So hit the deck. By the way, hell of a play by Fuzzy Thurston, not only did he get to the ball quickly but wheeled and fired a perfect throw to the catcher. Hell of an athletic play.

by zmanmetfan on Apr 22, 2009 2:31 PM EDT up reply actions